Lessons I learned from Nick Saban

[Kevin McKoy]

Greetings guys and gals (yes some girls play madden from what i hear ) I am here to share with you some principles I learned from Nick Saban about pass coverage, that has helped me greatly against online opponents and cpu a like. I won't be long I promise.

So first up, whenever you are playing against 2 backs and a tight end, play an 8 man front, it doesn't do you any good to sit in 2 high, they only have 1 tight end and 2 wrs, or two te and 1 receiver, so 4 verts isn't a threat if your in cover 3, and sometimes cover 1 will be required particularly if you are down, and they are trying to dink and dunk you.

Also if you have the talent on your team its the best pass defense in football, stuffs the run and shuts down the middle of the field against the pass.

Make sure you are watching the split of the wide out, for example, if you are playing against a 2 wr,2rb 1 te, you want to shade your safter or linebacker outside, because you have middle help. If its 3 wide etc again look at the leverage, if they are closer to the sideline, its a much harder throw, so leave the leverage as is, and the db will do their best to take away the inside.

I like this defense on third downs for medium to long yard situations, that isn't all that i call but i do like that defense at times.

Now for the meat, defending the pass. If you are going against trips formations, it doesnt do you any good to come out in split coverages ie (cover 6, cover 2, cover 4) what you want to do here is come out in cover 3.

Now I know what your thinking, what about 4 verts, this is how it is defended per saban and per game experience. to the play side, which is the 3 receiver side, the middle safety has all of number 2 vertical, the corner has all of 1 vertical.

the third wr or te, will be taken by you, because the ai won't do it, but you can still apply sabans lesson with one tweak. To the weak side hook player, weak side is one receiver side, you will take control of that hook defender, and you will take number 3 if he goes vertical. If three doesn't go vertical watch number 2 as a crosser, as the safety won't be in position to stop it.

You will man up the weak side receiver, this will stop quick slants extra, because generally the flat player has a long way to go, and against 4 verts, everyone is now accounted for, which leaves the running back, but on 3rd down or really any down, you will concede that any day.

Now and I see alot of you guys do this online, and then get bbqued by guys, against 2x2 you come out in cover 3, against a savy opponent, 4 verts is going to hurt you, it isn't cheese at all either, the seams are too wide. Instead you want to play either cover 2, cover 4, or cover 6, or cover 1.

Here is why, if you run 4 verts out of 2x2 which is two receivers to each side, the safeties will split the difference, and the linebacker will help to the wide side, its not 100, and will depend on defensive talent, but it makes it a lot harder throw, same thing with cover 6, but safeties will split the difference. cover 1, you have to trust your corners can hold up long enough for your linemen to get there, and trust me, if its third down and 7 and you play cover 1 and get a good jam, and take away outside breaking routes, its a tough throw that needs to be precise.

against 5 wides same thing, i would consider this trips with one extra receiver, it is still a unbalanced set, the only difference is when you play cover 3 this time, don't man the weakside receiver, because if they go verts with the second weak receiver, you want your corner to split the difference,you still have number 3 if he crosses and goes vertical,

Now one caveat to using cover 2, as some teams will use it against 5 wide receiver sets is the middle backer, same applies for trips, if he is good enough you can take the third receiver and it basically turns into cover 3, but only do this if you feel comfortable out of cover.

Oh and by the way same thing applies to 2 wr and 2 te, with one running back, if its balanced, split coverage and cover 1, if its unbalanced cover 3 and the other rules i mentioned.

I hope this helps you, and provides you answers to what you should audible to and when.

Thanks guys, and those are my lessons from Nick Saban.

[troy184]

tl;dr




10 char

[Kevin McKoy]

Not sure if you were saying thank you or had a question, but if you have questions please ask

[Senator Palmer]

Really good post. Much appreciated.

How does Nick Saban like approach defending the mesh concept?

[Kevin McKoy]

The same principles apply, it depends on formation. If it were trips he would come out in either cover 3, cover 1, or cover 0. I am assuming you are talking about short yardage situations though, because if its first and ten, and you give up 5 yards, that is fine.

In fact, one of the principals he has is giving up 5 yards or less on pass plays, and 3 yards or less on runs. so for example if its third down and 5, and the come out in bunch, make sure your two outside corners aren't pressing, press the inside receivers, it minimizes the pick action, plus your robber defender should be a detractor over the middle also.

And by the way make sure you are playing with outside leverage, so if you are quick enough on the sticks, shade all of your corners outside, that way the outside smash isn't open, now this depends on talent also.

As the old saying goes, sometimes its not the x's and o's but the jeff and joes

[volstopfan14]

Not sure if anyone is interested, but this is the coverage adjustment I took from Saban to play cover 3 versus trips.

Spoiler

Versus trips, Saban goes to his "mable" coverage when he is playing cover 3 rip/liz match. Basically he rotates the zone to the strongside and puts his corner to the single receiver side in man coverage.

So in Madden, if I call cover 3 and my opponent comes out in trips, I will automatically hot route my weakside corner to man coverage. Depending on who the corner is and who the receiver is, I will put him in press. Because there is only one receiver who is a threat to his zone, the corner is free to cover the receiver in man. There is no downside to letting him leave his zone, and the upside you gain is now the corner is covering someone if the backside receiver does not release vertical. The only potential risk would be if the running back is on a wheel route. But I will get to that next.

Now, the player I user is the weakside linebacker. The first thing I am looking for is to pick up the 1st crosser from the strong side. This is where I can defend the #3 in 4 verts, or pick up any shallow crossers. If no receivers are crossing the field, I will go to the curl area and try to rob the QB if he is throwing quick to the single side receiver. Finally, I will run to the flat to defend the RB. This is where the defense of a RB wheel route comes in. A RB wheel route is the only route that does not come from the singleside receiver that would threaten the corner's deep zone. So now that the corner is in man, the WLB is responsible for picking up the wheel.

As for the trips side, it is being played just like cover 3. But mable is a more effective coverage versus trips. First, because the backside receiver is now locked down in man, and second because the user WLB is now in position to defend #3 if he crosses the field (often in 4 verts) and then pick up the back in the flat if no one crosses.

[majesty95]

Excellent posts guys! They have really stepped up the game and made it more realistic this year. Having guys that have actually played and coached the game really helps to understand the principles better and improve our games!

[Senator Palmer]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kevin McKoy

In fact, one of the principals he has is giving up 5 yards or less on pass plays, and 3 yards or less on runs. so for example if its third down and 5, and the come out in bunch, make sure your two outside corners aren't pressing, press the inside receivers, it minimizes the pick action, plus your robber defender should be a detractor over the middle also. And by the way make sure you are playing with outside leverage, so if you are quick enough on the sticks, shade all of your corners outside, that way the outside smash isn't open, now this depends on talent also. As the old saying goes, sometimes its not the x's and o's but the jeff and joes

See, now I've been doing this backwards. I know remember seeing Richard Sherman in a film session talk about how they don't press the slot receiver. And I always thought the purpose of condensed sets was to negate the defense's ability to jam. I'm going to give this a shot.